New Publisher to Restart Honey

May 21, 2004

Ex-Record Co. Exec Wants Urban Female Voice

The CEO of the company that outbid Earl Graves of Black Enterprise magazine for Vanguarde Media's Honey magazine said today that "we plan on relaunching the magazine" but has not yet picked an editor.

Philmore Anderson of Sahara Entertainment in New York told Journal-isms that, "We're super-excited to have the Honey brand. It's a great brand, a great magazine. We look forward to resurrecting the urban female voice that resonated through it."

Anderson, who said he is "in the 30s," was vice president/marketing for Columbia/Sony Records, and before that was head of marketing for Atlantic Records and had an Internet music company. He said Sahara had been in business for about a year and is black-owned.

He said the company would have a formal news announcement soon. "When minority companies go into bankruptcy, it hurts me," he added.

As reported yesterday, the auction for Honey, the last of the Vanguarde Media publications being auctioned off in Manhattan bankruptcy court, was won by Sahara Entertainment in conjunction with Black Book Media Corp., another New York firm, which agreed to assume the publication's subscription liabilities, according to the lawyer representing Vanguarde.

Black Book is not black-owned but has African American shareholders, Anderson said.

Honey, a female hip-hop magazine refashioned as "a fashion and entertainment magazine aimed at stylish urban women," went for $195,000 plus assignment of liabilities in the afternoon court session, lawyer Joseph Samet told Journal-isms.

Graves, represented by Derrick Godfrey, vice president for business ventures of Graves Ventures, bid $175,000, Samet said.

Honey claimed a circulation of 400,000 when it folded in November along with the other Vanguarde publications and was put up for auction.

News Photographer Shot While on Assignment

Veteran St. Louis TV news photographer Larry Washington was shot and wounded yesterday as he was doing a story with reporter Elliott Davis, "known for his confrontational interview style in stories involving public money or consumer problems," Heather Ratcliffe reports in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"It just went pow pow pow pow pow, then I felt the pain in my arm. I still didn't think I was shot," Washington said in a story on his station's Web site. "He was shot once through his left shoulder. 'I grabbed my arm and saw blood on my hand and shirt, and at that point I knew I had been hit,'" KTVI reported.

"Washington had just finished rolling a tape for a You Paid For It follow-up report at Galez Towing," the KTVI report continued.

"He put the camera down to talk to an old friend when at least five shots rang out. One witness who didn't want to go on camera told FOX 2 and police those shots came from nearly a block away. FOX 2's Elliott Davis said, 'When something like this happens, three million things go through your mind.'

"Elliott and Larry work together every day, and they've been in scary situations, but nothing compares to this. Larry said, 'I know we've done some dangerous assignments, but I never thought that anything like this would happen.' The FOX 2 family is blessed to have Larry still around. The bullet missed major arteries and organs. Larry is expected to make a full recovery. Right now, police don't know if it was a random shooting directed at the media in general or retaliation for a 'You Paid For It' report."

NAHJ Gets $1 Million More for Parity Project

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists has received a grant of $1 million from the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation to support expansion of the association's Parity Project, the organization announces.

"The Parity Project, launched in April of 2003, identifies cities where Latinos make up a significant portion of the city's population but are underrepresented in the newsrooms of local media outlets. In those cities, NAHJ works jointly with existing print and broadcast media, area journalism schools, foundations and Latino community leaders to develop comprehensive model programs to increase the representation of Latinos in newsrooms and improve news coverage of the nation's Latino community," the announcement said.

"The new three-year grant will enable NAHJ to bring the Parity Project to a total of 48 print and broadcast media outlets across the country by 2007, a rapid expansion from the six media outlets involved in the first year pilot.

"Current NAHJ Parity Project partners include several daily newspapers that are owned by the E.W. Scripps Company; Lee Enterprises, Inc. and Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. NAHJ is also in talks with several broadcast companies that have expressed interest in the Parity Project."

Reuters Stands By Story on Abuse of Reporters

"Despite official military statements denying any wrongdoing -- and an announcement today that the case is 'closed' -- Reuters is standing by allegations that three of its employees were abused by U.S. soldiers while confined near Falluja in January," Greg Mitchell reports in Editor & Publisher. "A chronology produced by Reuters detailing events surrounding the alleged abuse of three of its staffers in Iraq, obtained by E&P today, appears to support the agency's contention that it has repeatedly pressed the military for a full and objective probe of this incident from the beginning, with sometimes disquieting results.

"The detailed chronology reveals that the agency's Baghdad bureau chief, Andrew Marshall, received an e-mail from the military on Jan. 29 containing an executive summary of the U.S. investigation and its final results, which claimed no abuse of the staffers -- while the investigation, according to the Pentagon, was still underway. And none of the three Reuters detainees had been interviewed by the military," Mitchell writes.

Meanwhile, the Society of Professional Journalists called for an independent investigation.

"This kind of investigation needs to be conducted independently of the parties making the accusations and denials. The charges certainly fall into the scope of congressional investigations of non-combatant abuse," said Mac McKerral, SPJ president.

Kerry Looking to Match Bush on Hispanic Outlays

The Kerry for President campaign is "looking at matching [President] Bush's expenditures dollar for dollar," the man selected to run the advertising effort to reach Hispanics tells Journal-isms. "It's a dogfight for the Hispanic vote."

The naming of a Latino advertising specialist was one of the points John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, made in a conference call Monday with black journalists. The specialist, later identified Armando Gutierrez, a veteran of Democratic campaigns based in Albuquerque, N.M., said his first task will be to familiarize Latinos with "who John Kerry is," recounting his personal history, and then explaining the candidate's position on issues that particularly affect Hispanics. He plans to target Miami, Tampa and Orlando, Fla.; and points in New Mexico and Arizona.

Meanwhile, Terry M. Neal writes on washingtonpost.com that the war in Iraq is hurting Bush with African American voters.

"With African Americans being such historically loyal Democratic voters, it may not be obvious why blacks would be a strategic focus for Bush," Neal says. "But with such a closely divided nation, swinging just a few votes could help."

"Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Iraq stands out because it is the nexus for a confluence of issues that include the economy, tax cuts, health care and education."

Kerry Promises Greater Outreach to Black America (Joe Davidson, BET.com)

Iraq vs. Black Entertainment Television (cartoon by Keith Knight)

Papers Tweaked for Lack of Hispanics on Boards

The National Association of Hispanic Publications Inc., which describes itself as "a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing the Hispanic print nationwide," is praising the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Washington Post for their recent decisions to acquire Hispanic properties, but tweaks the newspapers' parent companies for lacking Hispanics on their boards of directors.

"Acquisitions will accelerate a company's presence in the Hispanic community. Yet, one way to ensure that real Hispanic interests are served and represented is to move to a deeper level of community engagement, which for us means Hispanic representation on the board of directors and in the executive offices," said Alfonso Martinez, president and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility, in a news release from the NAHP.

"A company can utilize vital intellectual capital but also simultaneously earn the trust of the Hispanic community."

"Currently, The Washington Post Company and Cox Enterprises, Inc., owner of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, have no Hispanics seating on the board," the release states.

Tampa Wines, Dines to Win an NABJ Convention

When the National Association of Black Journalists scouts out cities for conventions, it normally doesn't make the local newspaper, but a visit to Tampa, Fla., prompted a piece by Tampa columnist Ernest Hooper in the St. Petersburg Times.

"Set before Tangie Newborn and Kim Thompson on Thursday morning were some of the finest offerings the hotel could whip up: two types of quiche, chicken apple sausage, maple pepper bacon, french toast with apples and fresh fruit berry martinis. And it was all personally prepared by the hotel's executive chef," as Hooper described it.

"Clearly, these weren't your ordinary guests. But it's not every visitor who determines whether Tampa will play host to a multimillion-dollar convention.

"Newborn, executive director of the National Association of Black Journalists, and Thompson, president of the TraMar convention management company, came to town to see if Tampa has what it takes to accommodate an NABJ convention in 2009 or 2010."

Air America Radio Seeking New Money

"Air America Radio, the upstart liberal talk show network that has been plagued by management troubles, is seeking to raise new money in efforts to pay off debts and steer the business toward profitability," Jake Keaveny of Reuters reports.

"A group of early investors that include Florida plaintiffs lawyer Mike Papantonio, Chicago entrepreneur Sheldon Drobny, and Rob Glaser, chairman of RealNetworks Inc., have committed to invest new capital, people familiar with the company said.

"Air America has also moved to fill a void in its executive ranks. Doug Kreeger, also an investor, assumed the role of chief executive last week.

"'This venture is not dead and it's not going to die,' Papantonio, who co-hosts a Saturday talk show with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in a telephone interview. 'I am a businessman and I see this as a great business opportunity.'

"Air America has racked up unpaid debts, which include payroll to sales forces it hired in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, but was forced to let go after backing out on plans to lease radio stations in those markets."

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